Bitetti, Bando de Loucos and Brazilian MMA

Democracia Corinthiana

Soccer isn’t just Brazil’s most popular sport, it’s the tool by
which all other sports are understood. Even in the home of vale
tudo, MMA is understood on futebol’s terms.

Anderson
Silva’s August fifth-round triangle choke over Chael Sonnen
has been immortalized in Brazil as having come “in the 45th minute
of the second half.” The Brazilian fight media have recently dubbed
lightweight prospect Charles "do
Bronx" Oliveira the “Neymar of the UFC,” referencing the gifted
18-year-old Santos striker. When discussing the booming fight scene
in Belem, the headlines ask, “Is MMA bigger than soccer in
Belem?”

Yet despite Brazil’s enormous and ongoing contributions to MMA, the
sport’s reputation and profile still struggles inside the country
itself. The nation is full of dedicated fight fans, but for much of
the population, images of bloody vale tudo battles, event riots,
and luta livre-versus-jiu-jitsu fights on the beach still mar the
reputation of the sport, limit its visibility and moneymaking
opportunities.

So, with Sport Club Corinthians Paulista partnering with Bitetti
Combat for
the promotion’s eighth event, taking place Dec. 4 at the club’s
stomping grounds, Alfredo Schurig Stadium in Sao Paulo, the
importance and potential for MMA growth in Brazil cannot be
overstated.

The Life and Times of “The Big
Team”

A necessary history lesson: Corinthians was founded in 1910 by a
group of workers from Sao Paulo; it’s working class roots made
Corinthians known as the “people’s team” from its inception. To
this day, Corinthians is still widely connected to the lower class.
It’s the most popular club in Sao Paulo, and second only to Rio de
Janeiro’s Clube de Regatas Flamengo in the whole country. However,
amongst the working class, it’s number one by a fair margin.

The passion for Corinthians is something extraordinary; the team is
referred to –- and not in jest -– as “The Almighty.” Indeed,
Corinthians has followers, not supporters.

Famously, in 1976, Corinthians played Rio de Janeiro’s Fluminense
in the Brazilian Championship semifinals. 70,000 Corinthians fans
traveled the 280 miles by bus to watch the game, destroying any
potential homefield advantage Fluminense would have had.

The match, known as “The Invasion,” was a 1-1 draw after full time.
Corinthians went on to win dramatically in the penalty shootout. To
this day, the Guinness Book of World Records considers it the
greatest human displacement of people during peace time.

2010 is Corinthians’ 100th anniversary. While most clubs make a big
deal of their centennial celebration, Corinthians’ profile is such
that the celebrations actually started three years ago.

Splash News

Ronaldo helped turn around
the fortunes of Corinthians.

However, when those festivities began, there wasn’t much to
celebrate: Corinthians had been relegated to the Second Division
for the first time in club history and was in financial and
political turmoil. When Andres Sanchez was elected club president
in December 2007, he cleaned house, bringing in a new front office
and players.

These changes paved the way for superstar Ronaldo to join
Corinthians, a move that has seen the club’s TV ratings swell,
despite already having the highest TV ratings in the country.
Nearly half its games are now on national TV. The new level of
exposure led to Corinthians signing a sponsorship deal for the 2010
season with Brazilian pharmaceutical giant Neo Quimica worth 38
million reais, or over $22 million USD. It led to an agreement for
a new stadium, which will serve as the stadium for the 2014 World
Cup opening match.

It’s estimated that some 30 million of Brazil’s roughly 186 million
citizens are Corinthians fans or “The Faithful” as they’re known.
That estimation makes the team’s fanbase larger than the
populations of Brazil’s neighboring nations Peru and Venezuela. So,
it is not necessarily cliché to call Corinthians a nation. Its fans
avidly consume whatever product has the name Corinthians on it.

“Our partnership with Corinthians is truly important for MMA to
really take off in Brazil,” says event promoter Amaury
Bitetti.

Bitteti Combat’s two-year deal works as follows: Bitetti and his
team do the matchmaking and event production, while Corinthians
brings the name -- and everything attached to it -- and the venue
for the event. The club also assists the promotion with potential
sponsors. Bitetti says he’s hoping to mobilize many of the club’s
most important organized fan groups –- Corinthians is rich with
dedicated fan sub-groups -- to get the word out about the event. He
is hoping to prominently publicize the event at this weekend’s
match against Rio de Janeiro’s Vasco da Gama.

“It’s great to see the No. 1 sport in Brazil surrender to MMA,”
proclaims Pride veteran Cristiano
Marcello, who will take on Argentina’s Guido
Canetti on the Dec. 4 card. “But, I do think they need to find
a way to broadcast the event in other countries; international
sponsors are still avoiding Brazilian events.”

There is still some skepticism that the Corinthians-Bitetti
cooperation will endure.

“Corinthians being involved with the sport can be beneficial to the
sport, since people are starting to realize that MMA is the sport
of the future,” says Marcos Barbosa, leader of Barbosa Jiu-Jitsu in
Sao Paulo. “But, it might just be one event. Right now, there’s a
lack of investment and people committed to the growth of the
sport.”

Bearing this concern in mind, it is essential that everything goes
as smooth as possible, especially given the media attention the
event will receive because of Corinthians.

If anything goes awry -– and we know how things can go wrong in
Brazilian events -– it could hinder MMA’s progress in Brazil.

MMA fans like to imagine that the sport is widely accepted in
Brazil due to the amount of high-profile fighters the country
produces. Unfortunately, it’s not the case, especially in
metropolitan Sao Paulo, where the sport simply isn’t part of the
culture the way it is in Rio.

“

Whatever Corinthians
gets into, people
want to know about.

”

-- Carlos
Ozorio

Historically, apart from the likes of Vitor
Belfort, who gained media attention for marrying model Joana
Prado and his stint on "Casa dos Artistas" -- Brazil’s answer to
Celebrity Big Brother -- national media attention is hard to come
by.

As Barbosa alludes to, most MMA events in Brazil must rely solely
on fight apparel companies, if any companies at all, for
sponsorship dollars. When MMA has made it into the media in the
past, it’s been for unfavorable incidents, such as the riot that
took place at 1997’s
Pentagon Combat in Rio. Incidents like this still impact the
public perception of the sport, a major factor in preventing
powerful, influential sponsors from getting involved.

This is why a successful relationship between Bitetti and
Corinthians may prove formative, as Sao Paulo, Brazil’s financial
capital, is the home of the big money backers that can make a
difference in legitimizing MMA nationwide.